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Topic: Sinatra biopic (Read 6623 times)

Martin Scorsese will direct a major biopic about the life of Frank Sinatra, according to film producer Tina Sinatra, Sinatra's youngest daughter.

But it will not be a Sinatra version of GoodFellas, Scorsese's gangster classic.

Instead, the combative singer-actor, who did socialize with crime figures, will be shown as innocent of any true involvement with the Mafia or other gangsters.

"Marty has always wanted to do this," Sinatra told Sun Media during a phone interview from Los Angeles.

Sinatra, who also produced the 1992 mini-series, Sinatra, said Scorsese is in a reflective period and is willing to present the truth about her father, who died on May 14, 1998.

That means dismissing scurrilous rumours that Sinatra was a stooge for the Mafia, Tina Sinatra said. Borrowing a metaphor from her father's own words, Sinatra said, "He never drove the getaway car." So, in the forthcoming Universal Pictures film, "I don't want him to be driving the getaway car. That would not be fair. But I trust him (Scorsese) implicitly."

Sinatra admitted it is premature to officially announce Scorsese for the biopic. Initially, she referred to the director as "the most prominent Italian-American filmmaker" working today in Hollywood.

When Sun Media guessed Francis Ford Coppola, she said: "We adore him but he didn't step up to it."

EXCLUSIVE: He was an enigmatic legend, and it looks as if the picture that just came together will do that justice. I've just learned that Universal has acquired this project based on the life of Frank Sinatra from Mandalay Pictures. Phil Alden Robinson is writing the screenplay, and Marty Scorsese will direct as well as produce through his Sikelia Productions. The Sinatra family gave its permission, which is not easy to get, and youngest daughter Tina Sinatra will be an executive producer along with Robinson and Garry LeMel, the former president of Warner Bros music division and himself a musician. The producers will be Peter Guber and his movie exec Cathy Schulman. "This has been a passion project for Peter Guber for a long time, and first he got together with the Sinatra Estate, and then with Scorsese who's also a huge Sinatra fan," an insider tells me. That Scorsese might direct this film has been rumored for a year. In fact, Tina herself has told journalists in the past that she would "trust Scorsese implicitly" to "present the truth" about her father because he's also an Italian-American. No names of actors who might play Sinatra in the movie are circulating yet. Any suggestions?

Frank Sinatra is finally getting his biopic, directed by no less a celebrity profiler than Martin Scorsese.

Universal Pictures has acquired "Sinatra," a script by "Field of Dreams" screenwriter Phil Alden Robinson with Scorsese attached to helm. Mandalay Pictures' Peter Guber and Cathy Schulman are producing along with Scorsese and his Sikelia Prods.

The deal comes after years of negotiations with Frank Sinatra Enterprises, a joint venture of the crooner's estate and Warner Music Group. Internal politics of the estate, where family members had to form a consensus as to how to tell the story and, more importantly, just how much of the story to tell -- was a hurdle that had to be overcome.

"The obstacles were ones of comfort and trust," Schulman said. "Everybody that was in control of the rights had to unanimously agree to do this. And having Marty at the head of this was the thing that ultimately cracked the code, so to speak."

There were also complicated rights issues, with the entire venture at one point getting bogged down over apparel merchandising rights, which the studio and the family were haggling over. That issue appears to be resolved.

Scorsese has taken on a host of historical figures throughout his career, most notably boxer Jake La Motta, billionaire recluse Howard Hughes and Jesus.

"Sinatra" not only will allow Scorsese to tackle the life of a fellow Italian-American with enormous cultural impact, it will also give him a chance to paint a portrait of Sinatra's pal, Dean Martin.

The filmmaker has for more than a decade been developing a biopic on Martin titled "Dino," working with a script by his "Casino" and "Goodfellas" writer Nicholas Pileggi based on the Nick Tosches biography, "Dino: Livin' High in the Dirty Business of Dreams."

"Dino" has been dormant for quite some time, though the research done for that project will likely inform "Sinatra" to an extent.

Speaking of research, Robinson, who was nominated for an Oscar for writing 1989's "Field of Dreams," had amassed 30,000 pages of it for "Sinatra," according to Schulman. And distilling it into a feature film has led the creative team to shun a traditional, linear storytelling approach in favor of a more unconventional one.

"It'll be almost like a collage," Schulman said. "In the way one of his records captures different rhythms and moods, this will have collective scenes and moments that form the overall story as opposed to a conventional timeline. It's about capturing moments as opposed to trying to tell the entire story in too little time."

A comparison could be made to Todd Haynes' 2007 Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There," which sketched out impressions of Dylan's life and work using six different actors, though only one actor is expected to play the Chairman of the Board.

With the artistic and social life he led, Sinatra's personal history is perfectly tailored for dramatic storytelling. Born in Hoboken, N.J., and raised during the Depression, he built a singing career that weathered many changes in popular culture, all the while racking up 31 gold records and countless other honors. He also had a successful career as an actor, proving naysayers wrong by earning an Oscar for 1953's "From Here to Eternity."

His personal life was just as eventful. He suffered from depression, was alleged to have connections to organized crime and was married four times; two of his wives were Ava Gardner and Mia Farrow.

No one has yet been cast in "Sinatra." The icon, who died 11 years ago Thursday, was portrayed on the small screen by Philip Casnoff in a 1992 TV movie and by Ray Liotta in HBO's 1998 movie "The Rat Pack."

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“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

The filmmaker who made Mean Streets will never return, but that being said, I'm intrigued by this project. Sinatra has lived so much of his life in the public eye that some people will go to watch this film hoping to relive their favorite Sinatra moment. Scorsese will either bow to the fans and make a drama that has all the career highlights with only a little drama (ex. Ray and Walk the Line) or he will go by a theme and make a film dedicated to the nature of the man ( ex. W. and Raging Bull) which will upset fans because not all the highlights will be present. Of course I prefer the latter, but biopics are always a challenge. It's hard to represent a life, especially a long one, on film.

The aspect of this film that will remind me of Goodfellas and Casino is how much this film will cross decades, but Scorsese won't have the comfort of violence here so this epic should be a lot different. Consider me excited to see a potential new personality for Scorsese, but it could just be another version of The Aviator.

Who the fucks going to play Sinatra? Fucking death sentence. Sinatra ain't Ali or Ray Charles where you just throw token adequate alright acting black dude in the role. It ain't Johnny Cash where you get the best actor that can emote the LEAST to play the role.

Sinatra's Sinatra.

Anyone who plays Sinatra for Marty is a jerk. An egomaniacal one.

Sinatra is impossible. Whoever they get to play this role will have us all rolling our eyes unless they create a machine to create zombies and have Frank play himself.

I really like typing Sinatra. It's one of those words, ya know?

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Let's go to a motel. We don't have to do anything -- we could just swim.

This project sounds intriguing. More so than any other Scorsese has been involved in recent years (excepting Silence), specially the part about "capturing moments" instead of having a linear narrative. I also thought inmediately of something like Raging Bull AND The Aviator, films that to me are kind of doing the same thing, illustrating a personality through filmmaking.

Director Marty Scorsese may want Leonardo DiCaprio for the coming biopic about Frank Sinatra. (Just as Marty wanted Leo for Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, and soon Shutter Island.) But I hear Universal's first choice to fill the role may be Johnny Depp. The studio is thrilled with his performance in this summer's forthcoming Public Enemies and very much wants to stay in the Johnny Depp business. Besides, it's already been determined that the lead actor playing Sinatra won't be singing. The movie will feature Sinatra's own recordings thanks to a deal with Frank Sinatra Enterprises, guaranteeing the participation of the Sinatra estate and Warner Music Group. Besides, Scorsese and Depp have never worked together: that alone could be reason enough to see this pic.

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“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol